I Want to be as Fast as the Wind
by AsterEris
Summary: “I want to be able to run, run away, away, wherever I want, and not be troubled ever again. I want to be the wind, Willowpaw. I want be as fast as the wind.” A world where his dreams seemed so close he could touch them. Oneshot. R&R!


**Please correct me if you know them, but in this story I have to sort of improvise with many of the leader/warriors, mother/kit combos and the sister/brother combos. I apologize if I get something wrong, and please tell me.**

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"Runningkit. My dearest Runningkit. Will he be alright, Shortleg?"

The ThunderClan medicine cat limped towards Gorsepelt, glancing down at the tiny tabby kit nestled against her belly.

"He looks healthy, perhaps on the miniature side." The medicine cat peered closely at the tom's ears and mouth. "Yes, healthy. No sickness, all good. Feed him up, Gorsepelt, fill him up, feed him up." Shortleg wandered away, his one blind eye closed.

"Poor, poor Runningkit. My son."

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"Hey! No fair! Wait up, Runningpaw!" cried Willowpaw, her paws flying over the forest floor. Runningpaw streaked ahead of her, his ears flat against his skull.

"I bet you can't catch me!" He threw the words over his shoulder as he cleared a boulder and made for the river, his tabby frame lithe and thin.

Willowpaw growled and tried to run faster, but she knew that no apprentice could match Runningpaw's furious pace. He was the fastest runner in all the forest, or so _she_ believed.

Finally, panting, Willowpaw caught up with her friend at the edge of the river. He was standing at the lip of the gorge, peering into the bare-leaf full river that raged below him.

"It's so fast. I wish that I were as fast as the river."

"You are. Faster, I think. Great StarClan. You piece of fox-dung. You're goin' to kill me someday, with your running."

Runningpaw grinned. "Race you to the Thunderpath!" he cried, sprinting away.

"Oh, StarClan! You already beat me once!" yowled Willowpaw, but she started off after him.

Runningpaw dove between the branches of a tree and came skidding to a halt at the edge of the Thunderpath, barely tired. He loved to run, more than anything else in the world. Maybe it came from always trying to escape Longpaw's taunts about his size, or maybe because all he wanted was to live up to his name and become a memorable warrior like Tawnyspots, the deputy.

"I'm goin' to claw your fur off, mouse-brain!" mewed Willowpaw as she came to a sluggish stop behind him.

"Sorry," he meowed, but he wasn't really listening, he was staring at the tops of the trees, watching as they swayed back and forth in the gusting wind.

"Willowpaw?"

"Hm?"

"Do you know what I want?"

"To go back to camp?"

Runningpaw blinked, and Willowpaw realized that he was hardly talking to her. He was off in a distant land, where his dreams seemed so close he could touch them.

"I want be as fast as the wind."

Willowpaw was silent.

"I want to be able to run, run away, away, wherever I want, and not be troubled ever again. I want to be the wind, Willowpaw. I want be as fast as the wind."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Runningpaw, do promise to always uphold the warrior code, even at the cost of your life?" meowed Littlestar, staring down at Runningpaw from the Highrock. Runningpaw's heart thudded in his chest. This moment, this was what he had been wishing for his entire life.

"I do, Littlestar," he mewed, quivering from head to toe.

"Than let you be known as Runningwind, from this day forth."

The new warrior remained where he was, staring at his tabby paws, as the assembled members of ThunderClan dispersed. He could barely think, he was so filled with happiness. _Runningwind. Runningwind._

Runningwind stared at the sky, watching the clouds scuttle across like giant balls of ivory moss. _I've done it!_ He murmured in his mind. _Oh StarClan, I've done it! I've been all I can be! I am as fast as the wind!_

"Willowpelt! Run with me!" he cried, and lurched forward, his muscles rippling under his tabby coat.

Willowpelt, hearing the vast joy in his cry, leapt up and raced after him, barely keeping him in sight, as always.

Runningwind flew over every log, barely brushing the ground before jumping away again, soaring across the leaf-strewn ground, his whiskers and fur flattened against his body.

"Willowpelt?" He stopped short, breathing lightly, staring at his reflection in a puddle of water on the ground before him.

She tumbled up behind him, her striking blue eyes searching his face.

"What, Runningwind?" She padded forward and sat down next to him.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Have you ever felt as if you were flying?"

"Never, Runningwind. I am not a flying cat. I like the feeling of ground beneath my paws."

"Oh."

"Why?" she asked, puzzled.

"Because I believe that I have flown."

"StarClan knows that's impossible."

"Is it? Is it impossible? My paws were carried by the wind, Willowpelt. My paws. The wind bore me up. I was running with it. Running with the wind."

"I believe that, Runningwind. You are as fast as the wind."

"You believe it?"

"I believe it."

_I am as fast as the wind!_ Cried his mind. _I run with the wind._


End file.
